Viacom has confirmed it has sold the Rock Band developer to a private holding company...

Harmonix Music Systems - developer of the Rock Band franchise - has been officially sold by parent company Viacom to New York-based investment management firm Columbus Nova.

Viacom announced it was to sell the studio as it backed away from the video games business, following flagging sales of the Rock Band franchise. The studio was acquired in 2006 by Viacom through its MTV Networks division for $175 million. It isn't known how much Columbus Nova paid for Harmonix.

Harmonix has already confirmed it is working on unannounced projects, and pledges to keep on delivering downloadable content for its Rock Band games. It is believed the Rock Band and Dance Central licenses will remain with Harmonix.